The invention relates to a method of producing a soundtrack to accompany a moving picture sequence and to a method of dubbing the dialogue of one or more participants in a moving picture sequence, into a target language different from the source language. The invention further relates to an apparatus for producing a soundtrack to accompany a moving picture sequence and to an apparatus for dubbing the dialogue of one or more participants in a moving picture sequence into a target language different from the source language.
It is common practice for films and other television programmes to be dubbed in the language of the country in which they are to be shown, either in the cinema or on television. There is frequently a mismatch between the acoustics that would be present in the environment represented by the pictures and the acoustics of the environment in which the dubbed dialogue is recorded. For example, the dubbed dialogue is normally recorded in a studio environment by actors who are not moving about, whereas the original film or television programme may have been generated on specially constructed sets or in the open air. Additionally the actors, or participants, are frequently moving around the scene whilst the original dialogue is being produced. A similar problem may arise when films are produced with the intention of dubbing them. The sound effects then have to be recreated subsequently, without the contemporaneous dialogue, and so do not match the acoustics in which the action took place. A simple way of improving the situation is to apply artificial reverberation to the microphone signal obtained from the dubbing actor, or to the sound effects in the dubbing studio, to match the reverberation that would be created by the environment in the picture. Experience of dubbed films shows that this is not always adequate. A further possibility is to perform dubbing using the original actors in the film. This, however, is tantamount to recreating films in different languages and the cost is likely to be prohibitive.
The invention provides a method of producing a soundtrack to accompany a moving picture sequence, the soundtrack including dialogue intended to appear to be produced by a participant in the moving picture sequence, the method comprising the steps of:
a) producing, in a first acoustic environment different from that of the scene in the moving picture sequence, an electrical signal representing dialogue intended to appear to be produced by the participant,
b) constructing a model of the acoustic environment of each scene in the moving picture sequence in synchronism with the moving picture sequence,
c) specifying the position of the participant in the current scene, and
d) modifying the electrical signal in accordance with the acoustic environment of the scene and the position of the participant in the scene so as to simulate the dialogue which would have been produced had the dialogue been produced by the participant at the current position of the participant in the scene.
One application of this method is in the generation of computer animations when creating or playing games. For example, using this method a games player can insert dialogue into the mouth of a character in a computer game for replay either to that player or to another player either at the same location or at a remote location.
When the moving picture sequence soundtrack contains dialogue in a first (source) language the method may be arranged to generate dialogue, for inclusion in the soundtrack, in a second (target) language equivalent to the dialogue in the first language.
This enables dubbing of a film or other sequence into a different language while retaining the appearance of the soundtrack issuing from the participant in the scene without having to recreate the scene when producing the second language version. The target language may replace or be in addition to the source language in a dual language version of the sequence.
The method may advantageously allow dubbing of the dialogue of two or more participants, or actors, taking into account the position of each in the scene.
Step b) and Step c) may be performed using a user interface to a computer, said user interface in combination with said computer enabling a user to construct an acoustic model of the scene and to define time varying positions of the participant within the scene.
Thus a simple to use control interface may be provided which allows the operator to construct a simple model of the environment seen in the moving picture sequence and mimic the movement of the actors or other participants in a scene in order to produce a new soundtrack in which the dialogue is processed to sound as it would if it had been produced in the environment of the scene.
The method according to the invention may advantageously enable a virtual environment corresponding to that which existed when the film, or other moving picture sequence, was generated, to be created and for the characteristics of that environment to be applied to the speech of the dubbing actors, to modify it so that it appears to have the characteristics that would have been created, had the dubbing actor taken part in the original scene. This allows the power of a computer to generate a virtual environment and produce control signals for an acoustic processor, which is able to modify the signal produced by the dubbing actor to take into account the acoustics of the scenes in the film.
It should be noted that when the term xe2x80x98filmxe2x80x99 is used in this application, it is intended to cover more than purely cinematographic films. That is, it is intended to cover directly generated video programmes which may be films, documentary programmes, discussion programmes, current affairs, news programmes or any other sequence of moving pictures, however generated, and whenever the term film is used it should be given that interpretation.
The invention further provides an apparatus for producing a soundtrack to accompany a moving picture sequence, the soundtrack including dialogue intended to appear to be produced by a participant in a moving picture sequence the apparatus comprising an input for receiving an electrical signal, produced in a first acoustic environment different from that of the scene in the moving picture sequence, representing dialogue intended to appear to be produced by the participant, an acoustic model generator for generating a model of the acoustic environment of each scene in the moving picture sequence in synchronism with the moving picture sequence and the position of the participant in the current scene, and a processor for processing the electrical signal in accordance with the acoustic environment of the scene and the position of the participant in the scene so as to simulate the dialogue which would have been produced by the participant at the current position of the participant in the scene, and producing the processed signal at an output.
The invention still further provides an apparatus for dubbing the dialogue of a participant in a moving picture sequence into a target language different from a source language, comprising an input for receiving an electrical signal, produced in a first acoustic environment, and representing dialogue in the target language corresponding to the dialogue in the source language, an acoustic model generator for generating a model of the acoustic environment of each scene in the moving picture sequence in synchronism with the moving picture sequence, and the position of the participant in the current scene, and a processor for processing the electrical signal in accordance with the acoustic environment of the scene and the position of the participant in the scene so as to simulate the dialogue which would have been produced had the dubbing been performed in the scene and in the position of the participant, and producing the processed signal at an output.
The invention yet further provides a record medium having recorded thereon a soundtrack produced by a method according to the invention.
The invention enables recording media, such as magnetic tape or optical discs, to be produced with a soundtrack in a plurality of languages one of which may be selected by the viewer when the moving picture sequence is replayed. By using the method according to the invention to create the soundtrack containing secondary languages in addition to the primary (original) language of the sequence, a greater realism in viewing the sequence using a secondary language may be obtained. In continents such as Europe where many different languages are spoken there is great advantage to suppliers of recorded films in producing a single recording having a plurality of different languages in the soundtrack, one of which may be selected by the viewer at the time of replay of the film. This largely relates to the minimisation of the number of different versions which need to be produced and distributed.
The invention still further provides a computer program that, when loaded on a computer, enables the playing of a computer game, the program including a description of the acoustic environment of at least some of the scenes in the game, and a computer program that, when loaded on a computer, enables the computer to carry out a method according to the invention.